An official selection of the 2009 International Beverly Hills Film Festival, “Delta Rising” was written and directed by Michael Afendakis and Laura Bernieri. This documentary has a star-studded cast that includes, Morgan Freeman, Pinetop Perkins, and Willie Nelson. It is a fascinating film that documents the history of the blues, and more specifically, the birthplace of the blues, Clarksdale, Mississippi. With its abundance of blues clubs and blues museums, Clarksdale makes a legitimate claim for being the birthplace of the blues, a claim that is supported by the testimony of several blues heavyweights. The screening of Delta Rising at the 2009 International Beverly Hills Film Festival is of special interest to director, writer, and producer, Michael Afendakis as it is the first time the film will be screened in his home state of California.

Q: Can you say a few words about your film?
A: Delta Rising grew out of a love of blues music and the desire to experience a part of a culture and place I didn't know much about - the Deep South and Mississippi. I think it is also an area much of America doesn't really know or grasp that well.  Morgan Freeman (who guides our film) has a great quote - "The Blues is America's classical music" and I couldn't agree more.  When we are able to show these musicians, some day players, some world reknown, come and pay their respect to this place - A Mecca for the blues...well, I think you can really feel it, and the audience gets to know a place by the people that live there, play there, and come from all over the world to just taste a bit of History.  Muddy Waters, Mose Allison, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Charlie Musselwhite, Ike Turner and so many other musical legends have come from this area - it is a Mecca.
 

Q: Any interesting “behind the scenes” items you want to mention for viewers?
A: One of our producers, Matt Goff, asked a question of Philadelphia’s Jerry Ricks, he asked "Can a white guy play the blues" and Jerry just said..."that is only a question a white guy would ask" - so in that context we asked Morgan Freeman the same question - and he drew back like he was about to give us a bit of a talkin’ to for asking such a cliché question - but when we told him the reaction Jerry Ricks had…well Morgan just burst out laughing. It was great to see Morgan like that, a way many people don't get to see - just him in a moment of joy.  Morgan just asked us "You ever hear of Mose Allison - you listen to Mose Allison and I defy you to tell me what color he is?"  Well a few years later, I'm on a late night flight back to San Jose, CA from Memphis and I get off the plane in San Jose around 11:00 p.m. The airport is deserted and suddenly I hear over the intercom "Mose Allison…Mose Allison please pick up the white courtesy telephone" and I think..NO WAY.  I head down the escalator and there is a driver holding up a sign that says "Mose Allison" - I ask him if that is the Mose Allison and he says, yes.  A few minutes later I get a picture with Mose, a schedule for an interview and a memory that seems impossible to imagine.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add about the film?
A: We started shooting this film in 2003 and it has grown along with us.  We were neophytes that knew nothing about the south, but really knew nothing about the folks that live there more than anything else and it has been a true journey of enlightenment.   If you like music, if you like a story told from many different experiences and viewpoints you'll like our film - there aren't many tears even though some of the stories are sad - what there is though, is a story about our vibrant human nature and how a style of music helped a culture survive through some of the worst things any of us could imagine.  People suffered, but they had their front porch parties, they had their communities and one thing they always had was their music—their sound—a way to communicate to the rest of the world – you can't knock us down, we will survive.

Q: Why do you think independent film is important?
A: Gosh, that is a good question.  I just think everyone has a story to tell and we all have a point of view, and many times that has a hard time getting heard.  Independent film can get that lone voice out there and can push the envelope for story telling. It can be a basis for a community to come together, small or large.  I think the independent spirit is the catalyst for progress, and sometimes it works and sometimes it fails - but failure is the true basis for learning and only through it, do we move forward. It isn't always pretty, but it is necessary and something common throughout history.  Those that break the mold are the ones we cherish decades and centuries later - the orators, the poets, the painters, the musicians, the philosophers are who we study and I think that will be true 500 years from now.

Q: Why do you think the Beverly Hills Film Festival is important?
A: I think the Beverly Hills Film Festival is truly an independent event that celebrates filmmakers and filmgoers on a level playing field - and this in the Mecca of the established film community.  It gives a chance of those new at the craft and those that are seasoned to rub elbows together, share stories and celebrate that independent spirit - and maybe to build relationships that last a lifetime.  The Beverly Hills Film Festival gives everyone an opportunity to share the love of film up close and personal with filmmakers, actors, directors and aspiring artists of all kind in a beautiful setting that has infinite possibility.